Cassandra Pendragon
"I don't think I will," I replied through a smirk. In response she opened her eyes wide and pushed her lower lip forward in an endearingly cute pout. Most likely she hadn't been denied very often. My breath ruffled her hair when I chuckled and on impulse I brought my snout within a mere hair's width from her face, my canines bared. I had expected her to jump back in fright, but all I got for my troubles was an underwhelming frown.
"Fine then," she huffed after a moment and reached out to place her warm hand on my quivering nose. The tiny limb couldn't cover one of my nostrils, but there wasn't even a hint of the acidic smell I had come to associate with mortal fear. Children were truly marvellous. First she had thought we were some kind of divine messengers, then she had been paralysed by panic at the thought of turning into our next meal and now she treated me like… not quite a pet, but at the very least a wild animal that had walked up to her willingly. Come to think of it, she wasn't actually that far off, was she? "Will you at least tell me what you are," she continued. "If you aren't a dragon… but you don't look anything like the fox beasts I've seen before, either." I chuckled again and this time she had to brace herself against the cold gust of wind, while the sun painted a beautifully intricate pattern on her flying, pink tresses that reminded me of cherry blossoms.
"Goodness gracious," Viyara mumbled while she extricated herself from my tails and walked up to the girl. Her magic was constantly at work, weaving a much less ethereal gown around her. Apparently she wasn't enamoured with the idea of facing our hosts with nothing, but a thin layer of flames to protect her modesty. If only I had been able to learn that trick a while back… but even while I watched I couldn't figure it out. Usually my memories provided enough information to cobble some sort of understanding together, but creating clothes had obviously never been a priority for Lucifer.
On second thought, maybe he hadn't been able to. Every instance I remembered, when I had change my appearance, I had summoned the corresponding garments from somewhere instead of conjuring them from thin air. Not that it made much of a difference, but, aside from cooking, it was one of the skills I really wanted to learn. Mephisto was pretty skilled at conjurations, but considering I hadn't even spared a single minute to go through the pile of magic related memory crystals he had left me, I didn't expect him to just teach me out of the goodness of his black, shrivelled heart. Maybe I could ask Ahri once we had a few quiet hours. By now she probably had access to most of her memories, and she truly was genius when it came to spell craft. Damn it… despite my 48 hours of sleep I was still tired. Otherwise my thoughts wouldn't have been as sluggish and wouldn't have wandered as arbitrarily as they did now. I had even missed a few of Viyara's sentences:
"…before. Just be honest. Even a mole could see something's weighing on your mind. Where's the harm in telling? Neither one of us has anything to gain from blabbing." I blinked. I hadn't seen it, aside from the general gloom and doom vibe of someone who had recently lost a good part of their family and had been left alone to deal with two dangerous creatures of legend. It would explain why Mei had acted quite affectionately, though, once she had been sure we weren't there to eat her. Maybe she was looking for help? I groaned mentally. I really didn't have the time to get involved with her problems. Not now. Oh bother, I couldn't even look her in the eye properly, tall as I was.
Silver sparks ignited in my coat and enveloped me in a glowing corona, before my body shrank. Once I had reached the size of a tiger I cancelled the magic and rose from the ground. Viyara was smirking at me as if to say: our size sucks, doesn't it, and Mei was gaping, plain and simple.
"You…," she began to stutter, but I cut her off. I had tempered with my vocal chords, just a little bit, and my voice was much closer to how I actually sounded when I said:
"That should be more in line with how you expect a fox spirit to look, is it not?" My eyes shone silver and I quickly looked around. "Your master is coming. It won't take her long and the rest of your family shouldn't be far behind. If you have something to say, say it now." Her lips trembled and her fingers twitched while her gaze travelled over my sleek form. The unburdened cry of an eagle sounded in the distance and for the fraction of a second it seemed like she'd burst into tears, but then her expression hardened and she bit back any comment that might have fluttered through her mind. Instead she whispered, hoarsely but resolutely:
"I'm sorry. It's nothing, really. I didn't mean to… please, don't mind me. I'm simply overwhelmed. It's already more than enough that you've allowed me to fly with you. I've loved every second… I've never felt so free. I'm sorry if I have overstepped my bounds. Please, forget my impertinent questions." My ears drooped and my jaws began to grind. Even my fur bristled when she added shyly: "but if you really feel like helping me, I'd be forever grateful if you could cure my master. That'd be more than I dare hope for." Before I even had a chance to wrap my head around the steaming pile of manure someone else called her out. A crisp and rich, but tired voice chided her from somewhere below the jade gate:
"Haven't I taught you to show respect, Mei? Brazenly lying to a dragon and a… I thought you'd know better." As distracted as I was the voice gave me a fright and I reflexively whirled around, my heart thundering in my throat, my wings and tails spread out like the feathers of a peacock to protect the two girls behind me. I only realised what I had done once Viyara pinched my hind leg, entirely smothered by a wave of silver, but I wasn't going to move now. In my second sight the new arrival burned as brightly as a dragon and even though Viyara would have been able to hold her own easily by now, I wasn't going to take any chances.
A snarl spread across my face and a harsh, eerie light surged from my eyes as my wings swelled, their crackling outline an ethereal promise of eternity made real. Then the human, for a human it was, raised their hands in surrender and sank to one knee: "I mean no harm," she said, her gaze lowered to the floor. My mind was starting catch up and I almost groaned in embarrassment. My heartbeat slowed, my power returned to my core and my vision shifted back to the normal spectrum. Who else could it be, but Mei's infamous teacher? I had even announced her imminent arrival myself and I had still acted like a startled chicken. Oh boy, I was in dire need of a vacation. A week. One more week. Probably… hopefully. Venice would have been nice. Or Nice.
I hadn't been sure until now, but Lin was probably a pretty good approximation of the Chinese character for "beautiful jade". The language was similar enough and her kneeling form, surrounded by a gate of the palest jade through which I could see the distant, snow white summit of the mountain, made her appear as ethereal and just as beautiful as a statue carved from the precious stone. Arctic blue hair, almost as bright as Reia's fur, shimmered in the sun and cascaded down her swan like, pale neck to cover her slim body like a sheet of water. Her small hands were folded on her knee, but they could still quickly reach the plain hilt of an eastern, curved sword at her side, peeking through the folds of a heavy, but simple white robe. She didn't look much older than Mei, but her entire demeanour gave her the presence of a formidable and powerful leader.
"Neither do I," I replied, still slightly rattled. The storm of light abated and I released the two girls from my protective hold. Luckily I hadn't used too much power and chances were nobody, but us had seen the brief, but violent display. "Please, get up. There's no need for you to kneel." I couldn't see her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched.
"I, as well, was taught to show respect, especially when asking for a favour." With an elegant movement she spread her arms and lowered her head again, before she nimbly rose to her feet. Her soft, yet regal features indeed reminded me of Mei and so did her glowing, slanted eyes. They were the very same shade of swirling pink and blue, a beautiful whirlpool of colours that seemed to pull in the light. "Or maybe even two," she continued, her gaze darting over my head and to her disciple. "If my niece doesn't want to tell you, I will." Then she smiled brightly and a much younger woman seemed to take her place when she even laughed. "Here I stand, blabbering on about manners, while you're still covered in dust and even blood. You must think our hospitality is severely lacking. Can I invite you inside? You're very welcome to wash away your weariness in our hot springs. Afterwards I'd very much like to talk over a warm meal."
"She's bribing us from the start. I like her," Viyara chuckled mentally. "Do we have the time?"
"Probably not, but I'm still taking her up on her offer, if only to buy you an hour or two. You can reach Greta and return to me, can't you?"
"I've made my way into a transcendent crypt," she snorted condescendingly. "I think I'll manage. Do you want me to pick up Constantine and his entourage?"
"Please. Something tells me that his journey has taken much more time than we thought. From what we've heard, doesn't it feel like decades have passed since he left? He wanted to cure a young girl who's now an empress. I think the Qin family has waged another war… we already know the time stream is affected, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. Come to think of it, could you also pick up Lamia's mother? The phoenix." She titled her head to the side.
"I can try. But why? Wasn't she just a means to an end?" I had to resist the impulse to flick her forehead. Not that I'd have had the fingers to do so.
"No one is. I have a feeling we might need her. As far as I know she's the first to have travelled through the cracks and she came from this realm. It's just a hunch, but she might be even more important than I thought." She blinked owlishly while she digested my words.
"And if her daughter wants to come? Which would mean your sister would tag along, as well."
"Let them. Reia's an immortal and Lamia is her responsibility. As long as they don't enter or try to meddle with the seed they should be fine. Besides, they'll have you to keep an eye on them."
"I don't like it, Cassy," she hissed with quite a bit of venom. Oh, she had seen… "You're already planning on entering the seed alone, aren't you? If you're right, you'll be in the very same place that almost killed you two days ago. What's changed? And why would you, even? That thing is already frozen, isn't it? Don't be a fool." I sighed.
"I'll explain once you return. Can you just do me a favour, this one time?" She clenched her jaws.
"Under one condition. Tell Ahri what you're planning and don't shut me out anymore, once I get back." I hadn't. I had only hidden a tiny part of my thoughts. Mainly because I couldn't quite put it into words. Not yet. Something had stirred at the back of my mind when she had mentioned Reia. I was going to need a few, quiet minutes and a bath in the hot springs sounded like the prefect opportunity to return some semblance of order to my thoughts.
"We've already had this talk," I admitted. "She knows where I might end up."
"Then I better get going. Will you be fine on your own?"
"I will," I chuckled. "I've spent enough time among humans, don't worry."
"I'm not worried about you, but I like it here and I'd like to come back some other time. Would be a pity, if it all turned into rubble."
"You underestimate my patience." I turned towards her and rose to my hind legs. With a silky thud my paws came to rest on her shoulders and I caught her eye before I quickly licked her forehead. "Go. The faster you leave the sooner you'll be able to return." She held my gaze for a few seconds and even caressed my ears. A small smile tugged on the corners of her mouth and a warm, golden light broke through her skin like the sun breaking through a bank of clouds. I dropped back down on all fours and found myself in the shadow of a massive dragoness, ogling a scaly, golden knee, the size of my head. A gust of wind, laden with the scent of molten metal, ruffled my fur when she shot up into the sky. Streaks of lightning coated her for the fraction of a second and then she was gone, swallowed by a thunderstorm of silver and gold.
For a long moment I gawked melancholically at the spot where she had vanished. Somehow it felt like… like seeing a child off for their first day of school. Up until now I had always been the one to leave her behind, but now… oh, how quickly they grew up.
"I… was it something I said," Lin asked quietly. I stretched like a cat and turned around to find the two women staring blankly at the sky, their brows furrowed, their robes still disheveled by the squalls of the dragoness' departure.
"No, I asked her to deliver a message," I explained, but judging from their confused stares it wasn't enough. Not by a long shot. I could even smell their thoughts running in circles, almost like a bitter aftertaste. "Look, you'd do me a favour, if you kept it to yourselves, but between the two of us I'm much, much older. It was my idea to go here and she was simply along for the ride. She should be back in a few hours, though. Most likely with… come to think of it, you don't happen to hold a grudge against the Hu family, do you? That could make things truly awkward in the near future." I had mostly meant to divert their attention and get back on track, but when they exchanged a quick glance and Lin's lips turned into a thin, bloodless line, I realised that my thoughtless question had hit pretty close to home.
"Oh, come on," I groaned and pawed the ground anxiously. I only stopped when I felt my unsheathed claws cut through the polished marble like a hot knife through butter. With an exasperated sigh I looked over my shoulder. We still had a minute or two before our escort was going to land. "Fine. In a handful of sentences, what happened?" The two girls hesitated, and Lin even clenched her jaws, but after a few tense seconds she seemed to come to a decision:
"A grudge," she began, "doesn't even come close. If it's the same lineage, they're nothing, but trained lapdogs of the Qin family. A few years ago it was different, but after they lost one of their most promising talents they became… spineless cowards in the palm of the Qin patriarch. They're skilled, though. Mei's mother died at their hands," she ended quietly. By all the saints… how bad could one person's karma actually be? Or was it another one of Amazeroth's surprises? God damn, it was a nuisance either way.
"Which means you're going to treat every member like an enemy, doesn't it," I asked, my ears pressed against the side of my head tightly.
"If… if they came to us showing their colours, we would, but most people don't have their identity tattooed on their foreheads," the blue haired girl began hesitantly, but I wasn't really listening. I wasn't even looking at her. My gaze was pinned to Mei, whose face was showing a plethora of emotions, changing much too fast for me to identify them. When she caught my eye she forced a pinched smile and whispered: "if you vouch for them, I'll manage. Are we going to find out why their prodigal son vanished all those years ago and where he ran off to?"